Florida Attorney Sentenced To Prison For Securities Fraud Scheme

MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) — An attorney found guilty of securities fraud has been sentenced to seven years in prison.

James Schneider, 77 was sentenced Thursday in Miami federal court. He was convicted in December of multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud.

In addition to his prison sentence, he must pay $19.2 million in restitution to 2,156 investors as well as forfeit $4.8 million.

Prosecutors said 11 other defendants also have been convicted in the pump-and-dump scheme: Schneider’s role was to author fake legal opinion letters to create 20 shell companies; investors then spent millions for shares of the companies from 2008 to 2013.